


Sarah Brown Eyes

by LeeLeeMak



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Lots of OCs - Freeform, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Starts out with Leo focus but ends up with a Niles focus too, Trans Leo, demisexual niles, i want to include an odin focus in here somewhere too but it hasnt come to me yet, irregular updates, leo trio is best, may not be important but jsyk, this is a passion project
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-10-25 15:58:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10767582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeLeeMak/pseuds/LeeLeeMak
Summary: Leo is tasked with helping Cheve reconstruct itself after the war. Along the way, he finds some interesting information about himself and his own loyal retainers.





	1. Chapter 1

Xander’s request to visit Cheve doesn't come as a surprise. It's just after the war, so someone has to go out and put the state at ease. That  _ Leo _ was chosen to do it  _ does _ come as a bit of a surprise; Leo thought Elise would be a much better choice but she's not the one currently on the road to Cheve. That would be Leo, crammed into a carriage with Niles by his side and Odin across from them. They’re talking about something, but Leo is too busy thinking about what his strategy with the Chevois will be.

Leo wonders if Hoshido will be sending a representative, given how close the now-king Ryoma was to the rebellion leader. Leo hoped not. It would be much easier to appeal to the Chevois people without a probable ally for their independence nagging at him constantly. 

“You'll be staying at the governor’s house,” Xander had said. “His two daughters are currently overlooking the state’s needs, and it’s with them that you’ll be discussing ordinances with.” Xander had smiled at Leo, then, shockingly enough. “They're nice girls, perhaps you can also secure allyship with Cheve.”

It all comes down to marriage, of course. Leo had no such interest, but of course calling it ‘allyship’ would make Leo look like a bad guy if he refused either of the girls. He promised Xander nothing beyond trying to keep Cheve under Nohrian rule and began packing for his trip. Xander had sighed at him, but didn't seem surprised. 

Being on the road on a horse is not a problem for Leo. He has had enough experience all his life, and especially in the past years, riding on his horse in all different sorts of conditions. But the moment he enters a cart, nausea hits and he is doubled over, keeping his head between his legs in an effort to not vomit. He is glad, on second thought, that Elise hadn't been invited on this trip. She would surely make fun of Leo relentlessly. Not even Niles, who usually takes to every opportunity to jab at him, turns his head the other direction when Leo has to take a moment to breath deep and calm himself. 

By the time they get to Cheve, Leo has convinced their driver to let him ride on a horse. His mood and complexion increases significantly, and one could almost say that he is looking forward to his meeting with the former governor of Cheve’s daughters. The two are waiting for him at the bottom of the mansion’s stairs, dressed in all their finery but with no servants to watch or protect them. As Leo dismounts, the shorter of the two sisters comes up to him. 

She is small and slim, with a wide grin and eyes full of mischief. Her soft pink hair is just past the length of her chin and her skin is tan from the sun. Compared to her sister who stands back by the stairs, it is apparent who goes outside more. “Prince Leo! What an honor it is to have you here!”

Leo is taken aback slightly from her energetic attitude. He wasn't expecting the governor’s daughter to be quite so loud. He thought, with the way Cheve was turned in turmoil with the war, both of them might be a little more reserved. Less optimistic. More hateful of the royal family. “Yes, I hope that we can work together to bring peace to Cheve.”

The sister in front of him smiles wildly, but the one who stayed by the stairs -- taller than other and hair much shorter and choppier -- frowns deeply at him. He hopes she won't be a threat to his goals. 

* * *

Dinner that night was simple. A Chevois styling of onion soup followed by braised salmon with potatoes. It is not particularly delicious, Leo notes, but neither is it repulsive in any way. During dinner, Leo discovers that the shorter of the two sisters -- and the elder -- is just as talkative as Leo was afraid she was. Her name is Cosette, and she is impossibly excited about the prospect of Nohr helping Cheve come back to itself.

The other sister stays silent; Leo has to wonder if she is mute or deaf.

After dinner, Cosette has a servant show him to his room. His retainers follow behind him diligently as ever, even though they had been shown rooms of their own. Oddly enough, it seems Cosette has no retainers of her own. No one followed by her side except for the servants. Perhaps they counted as retainers. Perhaps the sisters aren't wealthy enough to hire any. 

She parts ways with him a bit before reaching his room. “We’ll give you some time to adjust,” she tells him, suddenly becoming solemn. “Just let someone know if you need anything. Oh, and don't mind Éponine,” she smiles sadly. “The war was especially unkind to her.” With that, Cosette turns and walks down the hall in the other direction. 

Despite the fact that Odin and Niles are granted rooms in the servants quarters, they still somehow manage to end up in Leo’s room. Odin jumps and lands on Leo’s bed with a bounce while Niles ‘helps’ Leo undress. 

“It's certainly no majestic castle Krakenburg,” Odin says. “But it is rather well decorated and quite cozy, wouldn't you say, Milord?”

Leo shakes Niles off of his arm. The man just smiles and kisses his cheek teasingly before landing on the bed himself, right on top of Odin. The poor mage lets out a huff of air before laughing. Leo can feel his face flush and he prays that the other two are either too engrossed in one another to notice or won't say anything if they do. “It's certainly better than our quarters during the war, at least.”

The mansion is much better, by far, than those little tents. Though much smaller than the castle in Windmire, it is by no means nothing to scoff at. Leo suspects it feels so empty because they lost much of staff during the revolt, and that's probably why some of the furniture seems dusty and the outside unkept and decrepit. At least, he hopes that's why. 

He makes his way over to the bed, lying down gently beside his two laughing retainers. They sober up as he buries himself beneath the blankets and they move off the bed proper so he can have ample room to arrange himself into a comfortable position. Leo can feel himself begin to doze off into slumber. He thinks he hears a strange voice in the back of his mind and for a moment he thinks  _ no not again _ , but then the bed dips on both sides of him. He jolts awake, frightened by the sudden change and by being in unfamiliar territory, but Niles is right next to him with his hand on Leo’s shoulders and gentle  _ shh _ to calm him. Behind him, Odin begins to gently run his fingers through Leo’s hair, the mage’s nails just barely scraping Leo’s scalp. He takes a calming breath and lowers himself back to the pillows, his eyes fluttering shut as his retainers lay beside him and lull him back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is still mostly build up that I probably should have made into one chapter but (beck voice) I'm a loser, baby.

They’re in Cheve for a week before Leo notices something is amiss. It started at first as an irritating itch at the back on his mind, one that he can’t pinpoint the cause of. Then, Odin had reported as similar concern to him. 

 

“Something in this mansion is foul,” he had said one night while in the baths with Leo and Niles. “Those sisters have a dark energy about them, milord. I would not be surprised if they practice dark magic of even your caliber.”

 

Niles had hummed in agreement, but hadn’t said anything. They didn’t speak of it much more, neither really have any evidence besides a  _ feeling _ that something about the sisters was off. After that night, Leo began to watch the two much more closely, he’s certain Niles and Odin do as well, and managed to figure it out.

 

It’s not Cosette. Relations with Cosette are fine. Leo becomes irritated with her at times, but it does not affect their talking about Cheve’s future. 

 

No, what’s wrong is Éponine. She is quiet and rarely speaks up. When she does, however, she speaks only of Cheve’s independence and nothing more. Leo and Cosette have agreed that Cheve keeping ties with Nohr is for the best, but Éponine always disagrees and prolongs or sets off their talks. Theoretically, Leo could be home by now. He had basically built his own plan before he’d come, after all, and if Éponine could just nod her head then Leo would be on his merry way. Cosette gets along with Leo well, but she refuses any plan Éponine disagrees with. 

 

“My sister is the smartest person I know,” Cosette says every single time Leo tries to convince her to sign without Éponine. “We may disagree about Cheve’s ties to Nohr, but I won’t sign unless she agrees.”

 

Not only is Éponine uncooperative, she’s constantly giving Niles looks. Side eyeing him while they’re in counsel, staring at him over dinner, following him in the hallways during off hours. Niles had made an offhand comment about it on the tenth day and Leo has been near seething over it ever since. He keeps wanting to bring it up to her, but the damned girl never opens her mouth unless it’s to talk about independence. Any other time, she disappears and not even Niles can find her; unless, of course, it’s him she’s hiding behind. Leo can’t manage to find any private time with her to discuss legislation or even how breakfast was that morning. He’s beyond aggravated with her. 

 

It must show because Odin finds him in the library (much smaller than Krakenburg’s, admittedly, but a library nonetheless) one day and settles down beside him. He drags Leo’s head into his lap and using his fingers to card through Leo’s hair. Leo can only assume the man is reading over his shoulder, considering he isn’t spouting about his day or his new finding in the mansion, so he quickly turns the page to hide that he’s been on the same paragraph for ten minutes. 

 

They only have a few minutes together like that before being interrupted. A door, hidden behind a bookshelf, creaks open and grabs both of their attentions. Was this a servant’s doorway, used by wait staff to walk around unnoticed? Or was it a secret entrance known to common folk who heard that the Nohrian prince Leo was in Cheve and now they were coming to make an attempt on his head? Leo could feel Odin tense beneath him, getting ready to stand and fight if necessary, but it was Éponine herself that steps through.

 

She stares at them, blinking slowly, before making her way to the door. 

 

Leo scrambles up from Odin’s lap and follows her. “Wait!” He calls. “Wait!”

 

She doesn’t turn around until Leo grabs her wrist and forces her to turn. Her eyes widen in what must be anger and he half expects her to slap him, but she doesn’t. He can hear Odin trot up behind them, ready to defend his lord if need be. Éponine doesn’t speak.

 

“We need to talk,” he says. “Why are you so adamant about independence?”

 

She runs a hand through her short hair and tries to grasp at the ends that are too short to grab at. She must have recently cut it. She doesn’t speak.

 

“I know you’re not mute, Éponine,” he tries not to speak harshly to her. She’s already angry with him and there’s no reason for her to be any more so, but he’d really like to go home. “Why won’t you speak?”

 

She pouts at him, her lower lip quivers for a moment before she steps forward and towers him. He’s actually taller than both of the sisters, but the way Éponine steps towards him, with how close they already were, she forces him down just enough that she can look down at him in the eye. The cold anger in her eyes forces his heart to beat faster for just a moment and absolutely no longer. Odin puts his hands on Leo’s shoulders, keeping Leo from stumbling backwards. 

 

“My best friend died for it. It was her dream. Now, it’s mine.”

 

She turns on her heel and walks down the hall, disappearing into the shadows of the corridor. 

 

Leo turns around to face Odin, though both of them are looking into the library. 

 

“Milord, I feel as though you and I are on the same page of thought.”

 

Leo nods. “We have to find out where that bookshelf door goes.”

**Author's Note:**

> retainers = boyfriends in leo speak
> 
> if u read my zerodin week fics éponine is the oc i talked about in the end notes of family. whether these two continuities fit together it tbd
> 
> yeah there's a reason her name is éponine and that reason is my bff sarah named her oc cosette and was gonna marry her to xander and i was gonna marry mine to ryoma so i was like well of COURSE im going to name her éponine if yours is cosette it made more sense a year ago


End file.
